


tesla coil

by iphido



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: POV Tsukishima Kei, Pre-Relationship, featuring karasuno crumbs, spring high 2014
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25970461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iphido/pseuds/iphido
Summary: At the Spring High 2014, Karasuno loses to Inarizaki in the third round. Tsukishima thinks it's funny, the way life gives and takes.
Relationships: Suna Rintarou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 12
Kudos: 187





	tesla coil

**Author's Note:**

> for [**bun**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunot/pseuds/bunot). yeah its an unsolicited, surprise sntsk!!! that also serves as a tsukki chara study. sort of. just something short and mindless

Leather slaps matching palms, then the floor. A whistle blows. Tsukishima drops to his knees, shoulders heaving. He fights the urge to laugh. Life is funny, the way it gives and takes.

Last year, the two idiots on his volleyball team accomplished the impossible and stuffed the quick of another freak duo.

This time, the Miya twins do the same. Inarizaki’s blonde, wolfish captain grins down at Kageyama and Hinata, much like Oikawa-san did over a year ago. This time, orange-clad shoulders are slumped. This time, Tsukishima watches in silence as the opposing team gathers into a pile of teenage elation.

Across the net, he meets sharp olive eyes. Suna Rintarou has his arms slung over both Miyas, his mouth barely curved. Their eyes lock for a time. Then Suna looks away, and Tsukishima gets to his feet.

Hinata’s face is twisted with shame. Kageyama’s eyes are closed, his brows nearly meeting in the middle. Tsukishima nudges them each with a knee. “Come on,” he says. “Coach is calling us.”

Hinata inhales. “I’m sor—”

“Shut up.” Tsukishima turns his back on them. “Let’s just go.”

* * *

Tsukishima squats, gathers his knee pads, shoes, uniform, and water bottle, and shoves them into his bag. Yamaguchi has already gone ahead with Kinoshita-san to the front of the gymnasium. _I’ll catch up in a few minutes,_ Tsukishima had said.

 _I thought I’d spend at least another day here_ , he hadn’t found the courage to voice.

Kageyama and Hinata are still somewhere in here, too, probably off fighting about whose fault it was, or crying together, or both. Tsukishima isn’t about to go find them.

He zips his bag, slings it over his shoulder, and stands, looking into the arena.

The stadium is loud with the sounds of matches and crowds and bustling people. The noise is muffled, though, like he’s been dunked underwater. His legs ache to advance in a run-up, to jump a bit more, to bend steadily into a receive. His arms ache to stretch forward over the net, to reach back and spike, to accept Tanaka-san’s hi-five without protest. He feels, foolishly, like Hinata. _More, more._

“Yo,” comes a voice cutting through the haze. It’s smooth and low, and his first thought is that Kuroo-san has come to talk to him.

Tsukishima turns his head. Suna Rintarou’s face is blank. He wears the red Inarizaki jacket, hands stuffed in its pockets. His hair is tied back in a ponytail, neater than it was during their match. He’s alone.

“Hello,” Tsukishima greets cautiously. He turns back to face Suna standing six feet away.

“I didn’t see you at Interhigh.”

Tsukishima shrugs. “The cards weren’t in our favor back then.”

“I was looking forward to beating you.”

He glances away. “Well, you got what you wanted this time around.”

“You’ve gotten better,” Suna says bluntly. “Your receives and blocks mostly. But your spiking’s improved too.”

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “Have you been keeping tabs on me, Suna-san?”

“More or less,” Suna says, and doesn’t elaborate. At the start of their match, he’d stood across from Tsukishima and grinned something feral and small, a challenge one year in the making.

“Suna-san finally learned how to jump serve,” Tsukishima says.

“You’re not quite on my level yet, I see,” Suna sneers. “Keep watching that King of yours and maybe you’ll learn.”

Tsukishima grits his teeth. “I don’t need to learn anything from him.”

“Don’t you though? Him—there’s a monster in him. Him and that shorty and the fool I call captain, they’re going far.”

“You wouldn’t consider yourself one of them?”

“Would _you?_ ”

No. He wouldn’t. “I don’t live and breathe volleyball like they do.” Tsukishima resists the urge to pinch his nose bridge. The others might come looking for him any minute, and he’s wasting time here. “Is there a reason you came to speak to me, Suna-san?”

Suna juts his chin up. “Are you staying for the rest of the tournament?”

Tsukishima frowns. “Probably not.” As much as the club’s popularity has grown, there’s no need to expend funds for a few extra days in a hostel.

Suna blinks. If Tsukishima didn’t know any better, he’d say Suna almost looks—disappointed. “Shame. You won’t get to witness us win them all.”

“Why would I want to witness that,” he says.

“Sorry. I meant to say witness _me_ win them all.”

His frown only gets deeper. “Why would I—”

“I’m flirting with you, asshole,” Suna says, crossing his arms.

“Oh.” Tsukishima blinks. He fears it’s redundant at this point, but he wants to hear the answer from Suna himself. “Why?”

Suna rolls his eyes and steps about two feet closer. “God, you’re so dense. Don’t tell me you couldn’t feel it too.”

He did feel it. It’d been just an inkling last winter, an irking suspicion that the slippery middle blocker would be a thorn in his side. When they stood on opposite sides of the net today, though, it’d been like a Tesla coil, alive and crackling. Each glance, each feint, each jump felt like moving pieces on a chessboard. How many balls had Tsukishima directed from Suna’s palm to Nishinoya’s waiting wrists? How many spikes of his had Suna stuffed, his jump straight and steady into the air, arms like tree branches? How many serves had he sent straight to Suna so he would buckle to his knees and fumble on the come-up?

“I did,” Tsukishima concedes. Not enough to be infatuation—Suna as a person is much too grating for it to be infatuation—but there’s definitely attraction. Like opposing poles of a magnet.

“Good. If you said no I’d think you were delusional.” Suna moves forward even more. “Look, I’m not asking you to be my boyfriend, or even my friend. I just want to know whether you’re worth my while.”

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow. “Who says you’re worth mine?”

A glint appears in Suna’s eyes. “I could prove it—”

“Oi, Tsukki!”

They turn their heads. Kageyama is standing a ways off, Hinata behind him. Their eyes are red-rimmed, faces questioning.

Suna sighs. “You should probably go.” He holds out his palm. “Give me your number.”

“Bossy,” Tsukishima says, but he obeys anyway. He pulls out his phone and hands it over. Suna does the same.

When they’re done, Suna shoves his hands back in his pockets. “Let’s see where this thing goes, Tsukishima Kei. ‘Til next time.” He turns on his heel and walks away, the slim line of his body disappearing in the crowds.

There’s a grabby hand around Tsukishima’s arm. “Tsukki, you’re dating the enemy now?” Hinata’s puffy face peers up at him.

He wrenches his body away. “I’m not dignifying that question with an answer.” Pushing his glasses up, he starts to head towards the exits. “Come on. I’m sure Ennoshita-san is tired of waiting for us.”

Inevitably, the two break into a race to the double doors. Tsukishima watches them go, not even bothering to roll his eyes. If he walks slowly to savor the sounds, no one else has to know. Next year, he promises. He’s going to play on center court.

Suddenly, his phone in his pocket weighs something fierce. They lost today—but even that's not without reward. There's a lot to look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to get over some writer's block and try out a new voice. i haven't been inside tsukishima's head before so forgive me if it's wobbly :3 i also might continue this OR come back and expand on it
> 
> thank you for reading!!!


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